Lewis unsure about Tyson fight

Britain's world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis today refused to rule out a fight with Mike Tyson despite revealing that his rival had bitten a chunk out of his leg at a press conference last week.

The bout, which was to have been held in Las Vegas in April, was thrown into doubt after commissioners in Nevada voted against Tyson being given a permit for the match after his brawl with Lewis and verbal obscenities at the press conference in New York.

Today Lewis said he was "considering his options" and said: "Now that the licensing proceedings are over and the licence has been denied, I am no longer bound to remain silent.

"The fact that Mike Tyson bit through my trousers and took a significant piece of flesh out of my thigh."

He added that he required a tetanus jab from doctors after being bitten.

"I did have to take one afterwards in my hotel room. In fact they wanted me to go to hospital but I didn't want the drama."

The Nevada State Athletic Commission voted by four to one to refuse Tyson's bid to renew his fighting licence and said the convicted rapist was not fit to get into the ring.

The refusal is the latest blow to 35-year-old Tyson's attempt to return from a series of setbacks.

In 1992 he was jailed for rape and nearly five years ago he was banned after ripping off part of Evander Holyfield's ear in a match which horrified boxing fans.

Prosecutors in Nevada are also deciding whether or not to press rape charges against the boxer following an investigation which police said produced enough evidence for prosecution.

Today Lewis, the WBC and IBF title holder, told a press conference in London: "I have made no decision yet about the possibility of fighting Mike Tyson in another jurisdiction that may licence him because I want to consider carefully the reasons expressed by the commission in denying the licence.

"In addition, I am still consulting with my lawyers as to the legal consequences should I declare that I will not go forward with the bout.

"I know that all of my fans were looking forward to the Lewis-Tyson fight, as was I. I am sorry that the situation has not yet been resolved."

Lewis said he made no public statements concerning last week's press conference in New York after taking legal advice.

"I remain silent at the direct instruction and insistence of my lawyers, who advised me that revealing the truth about what occurred would have undoubtedly led to a lawsuit by Mike Tyson claiming that I interfered with the licensing process."

He added that he had wanted the commission to make its decision in the best interests of boxing, "without regard to what I may or may not have wanted".

The boxer refused to rule out the possibility of a match with Tyson in another location but added: "If this guy has some mental sickness he needs help.

"You can tell he's going through some medical traumas, though I'm no doctor."

Boxing experts say the fight, which would have been the biggest grossing of all time, is now only likely to take place outside the United States.

Many countries, including Britain, are expected to back the Nevada decision and it is now predicted the bout could happen in the Far East.

The British Boxing Board is expected to rule out a UK venue following Tyson's fight at Hampden Stadium in Glasgow in 2000.

The decision by the then Home Secretary Jack Straw to give the convicted rapist a visa sparked huge controversy, and the fight itself ended in seconds, with Tyson using television cameras to tell Lewis: "I want to eat your children."

Tyson appeared in person before the Nevada State Athletic Commission and called on the panel not to make him a scapegoat.

He said he did not have a problem keeping control, adding: "I'm crazy but I'm not crazy like that. I'm not Mother Teresa and I'm not Charles Manson either."

Sir Henry Cooper today applauded the decision to ban Tyson, insisting the former world heavyweight champion had only himself to blame.

"If he keeps doing these things he deserves to be banned. You cannot do what he had done, causing all these problems, and be allowed to carry on.

This decision was on the cards. He has got what he deserves."

But he added that the decision did not rule out a Lewis-Tyson fight taking place elsewhere in the world. "I suppose another state may licence it or they may be able to stage it somewhere else."